Part 27 (1/2)

Sweat dripped from Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai's shaved head, making it s.h.i.+ne like a melon in the rain.

Yung Lu paced the floor as he listened.

”Tan demanded an instant answer from me.” Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai took a deep breath. ”When he saw that I wasn't going to give him one, he threatened me: 'My knife will do whatever it takes to secure reform.' At this point I knew my next move. I excused myself with a lie, promising that I'd be ready to act on October 5, the day the Imperial military inspection would take place in Tientsin. 'All my troops will be a.s.sembled,' I told Tan. It made sense to him, for he knew that the inspection would be attended by both Emperor Guang-hsu and Your Majesty. Tan was satisfied when he left.”

Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai looked tired.

”You may sit down,” I said.

Yung Lu pulled over a chair.

I have no memory of the next two days. Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai's voice kept repeating itself inside my head: ”I couldn't imagine that the throne would order his mother's execution, but Tan was certain about it.” I denied the possibility. With body and soul I tried to protect myself against a terrible a.s.sault. Every fiber of my being went to defend my son against Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai's accusation.

According to Yung Lu, I had called Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai a liar and had ordered his beheading on the spot. Yung Lu described how Yuan was terrified and begged for his life. Yung Lu believed that my mind ”went under,” that I was in a state of shock, so he did not carry out my order.

A few hours after Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai's report, Yung Lu a.s.sembled the Grand Council, the key Manchu princes and n.o.bles, and the high officials of the boards, including the ministers the Emperor had previously fired and others who had begged me to reinstate them.

I was asked to resume command of the empire.

I sat through the audience. The court took my silence as an a.s.sent to their request.

Under cover of night, together with Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai, Yung Lu moved his forces up from Tientsin and replaced the palace guards. The Forbidden City and the Summer Palace were tightly secured. Before dawn, Tan's partners inside the palace were secretly arrested. Trusted eunuchs were then sent to Ying-t'ai to spy on Guang-hsu and his attendants.

When I woke that morning it felt as if I were surfacing from a deep well. I dressed, fed myself and went to sit on the Dragon Throne in the Hall of Spiritual Nurturing.

The court's eyes were on me, some curious, some sympathetic, some unreadable. The testimony of individual ministers confirmed what I had been told by Yuan s.h.i.+h-kai. There was no doubt that a coup had been set in motion.

”Emperor Guang-hsu needs to be dealt with,” Yung Lu proposed.

I gave my approval.

”Go to Ying-t'ai and break the news to Emperor Guang-hsu,” I instructed Yung Lu. ”If my son knew of the plot, tell him I don't want to see his face again.”

On his knees, Guang-hsu begged permission to end his life. He was in his pajamas. He hadn't even finished brus.h.i.+ng his teeth. His lips were white with toothpaste.

At the sight of him I had to turn my head away and take a breath. Finally I got up and returned to my bedroom and shut the door. Days went by and I fell ill. My stomach was burning. My tongue developed ulcers and it was painful to swallow.

”Your Majesty's internal being has caught fire.” Doctor Sun Pao-tien insisted that I stay in bed. ”Drink only lotus-seed soup to cool off.”

I was running a fever and had no wish to recover.

Empress Lan arrived, her eyes and cheeks red and swollen. She reported that Guang-hsu had attempted suicide.

Although I could barely sit up, I delivered myself to my son. I wanted him to tell me why.

”I might have been impatient, angry. And yes, I wanted to fire Yung Lu and remove your influence,” Guang-hsu said, ”but I have never considered taking your life.” He fumbled inside his robe and produced a sheaf of papers. ”This is my edict to have Kang Yu-wei and his a.s.sociates arrested and beheaded.”

”How do you explain their actions?” I asked.

”I don't know how my reform project turned into a.s.sa.s.sination plans. Kang proposes one thing and carries out another. I am guilty and deserve to die because I trusted him.”

Guang-hsu was more desperate than angry. I wished that he would defend himself and declare his innocence. Although I would never find out the truth, I needed to believe that he was set up. Deep in my heart I knew my child had been taken advantage of.

The bright light in Guang-hsu's eyes disappeared. The Emperor spent days on his knees beseeching me to grant him death. ”So the country can move on,” he said and wept. ”So you can move on. Kang Yu-wei didn't invite himself to the Forbidden City, I did.”

He was broken, his eyes sunken and his back hunched. ”I am sick of myself and sick of living. Have mercy and pity, Mother.”

Before I got a chance to let out my own rage, I was forced to confront Guang-hsu's distress. He refused food and water. Blood was found in his spittoon.

”His Majesty wants to punish himself so badly,” Doctor Sun Pao-tien said. ”He is willing himself to die. I have seen it in patients before. Once the decision is made, there is no stopping them.”

The order to arrest Kang Yu-wei and his a.s.sociates, signed by Emperor Guang-hsu, stirred the nation. The Ironhats and the court's conservatives took their seats in the Hall of Punishment, where the trial was to begin. They were ready to flex their muscles and teach a brutal lesson.

”The moderates will be hurt once the trial opens,” Yung Lu said. ”Their names, once exposed, will be linked to the reformers. The Iron-hats are out for blood.”

Both Yung Lu and I feared armed confrontation. We received intelligence about plans for a riot, instigated by the Ironhats. It would be led by General Tung's Moslem troops. Tung took his orders from Prince Ts'eng-no friend of the throne.

”Where are General Tung's troops now?” I asked.

”They are camped on the southern outskirts of Peking. If a confrontation occurs, the troops will gallop through the streets of Peking. I am concerned about the British and American legations.”

”I can imagine General Tung inviting himself into the Forbidden City. Prince Ts'eng can't wait for the chance to intimidate me. He will force me to dethrone Guang-hsu.”

”That is the picture I see too,” Yung Lu said.

”A painful tourniquet must be applied to avoid a fatal hemorrhage,” I said to Yung Lu. ”Present me a list of the must-be-executed and I'll see that the Emperor signs it. I hope it will help stop the popular displeasure that fuels the riot.”

Future historians would unanimously d.a.m.n me as a ”villain of immense power, dedicated to evil” when referring to Emperor Guang-hsu's attempted reform, which would be called the Hundred Days, counting from the date of his first edict to the last.

On September 28, 1898, only one day into the trial, the proceedings were halted when news came of Kang Yu-wei's escape-he had been rescued by British and j.a.panese military agents operating behind the scenes. Fearing that there would be more ”international rescues,” Guang-hsu issued an edict ordering the beheading of six of the prisoners, including Kang Yu-wei's brother Kuang-jen. They became known as the Six Martyrs of the Hundred Days.